M.A.N.D.E.A.R. - BuddiesTracks like "Buddies," the offspring of the union of stalwart house duo M.A.N.D.Y. and a certain leather-clad, perfectly coiffed techno superstar, put critics in an admittedly tight spot. Do we call them out for being the utter schlock that they are, or just let an obvious lark roll right off us, since records this heinous can't be meant to be taken seriously? How about I present both arguments: a) "Buddies," featuring Matthew Dear's already take-no-prisoners vocals carrying one of the least poetic hooks possible over vaguely psychedelic disco-tech, is annoying at best and nearly unforgivable at worst; b) "Buddies" is the work of three veterans having a good time, and who doesn't love a good time?

Luckily someone at Get Physical thought to call in Radio Slave, because his "Panorama Garage Remix" is actually kind of essential, the sort of transformation from phoned-in to finely-honed this project so desperately needed. Give Matt Edwards ten minutes worth of tape, this remix suggests, and even the least palatable source material becomes seductive. The collection's other remixes—a streamlined Slim Fit remix from M.A.N.D.Y., a drama-amplified rework from Get Physical lifer Siopis and an off-the-cuff and to-the-point Smash TV version—thankfully stay a mile away from the worst of that vocal and tone down the boring excess of the instrumental. In other words, we could have done a lot worse.